Where are we going with all this? Well, sunset tonight marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (Happy 5771, for those you counting at home), and among the traditions we mark it with are dipping apples in honey, and eating fish heads.

The apples and honey part, we’re sure you can figure out: they symbolize both the harvest of the old year and our wishes for the sweetness of the new year. We dip the apple in the honey and say “Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam borei p’ri ha’eitz” (Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe who creates the fruit of the tree). Then we take a bite and say “y’hi ratzon mil’fanekha Adonai eloheinu vei’lohei avoteinush’t’chadeish aleinu shanah tovah um’tukah” (May it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our ancestors that you renew for us a good and sweet year).

The fish heads, though, not so sweet, right? But “Rosh Hashanah” literally means “Head of the Year” in Hebrew, which should bring it all into focus a little bit. That, plus fish have been a symbol of abundance and fertility since ancient times.

It certainly feels like a new year around Wallingford. School buses are suddenly rumbling by again, the weather has changed (abruptly), and it’s easy to picture ourselves in a warm, firelit living room unpackaging all those projects we set aside for summer frolic.